This is my old blog. You can find my current blog at stephanieperkins.com.

10.03.2010

"I am in love with Saskia Hamilton!"

I'm so in love with "Saskia Hamilton," the new collaborative song from Ben Folds (music and vocals) and Nick Hornby (lyrics), and the corresponding official video made by Charlie McDonnell.

Ben Folds is, of course, Ben Folds. Nick Hornby is the author of oodles of great things including the novel High Fidelity (love the movie, love the book even more), and he was the screenwriter of last year's outstanding An Education. Saskia Hamilton is an American poet, and now I'm excited to check out her work!

[I wonder how many book sales she'll get from this song? I hope a lot! I found three poems here, if you're curious like I was.]

And Charlie McDonnell . . .

I know that MANY of you already know Charlie, because I received several pictures of him when I asked for images of Hot British People in August. Here is one of them:

It's pretty much the most addictive YouTube channel for females between the ages of thirteen and . . . I am not finishing that sentence, but I will say at least twenty-eight. No particular reason.

Charlie also gets to do awesome things like visit the set of Dr. Who and meet Neil Gaiman.

AT THE SAME TIME.

Did you hear that? Two thousand nerds just exploded from excitement. I was one of them.

Anyway, if you're not already familiar with Charlie, you will thank me. Either that or you'll be super-annoyed, because seriously, there goes your afternoon.

You're welcome.

And thank you, for all of your comments on my last post. There were so many wonderful dog stories in there! Even one about one of my other childhood dogs. (Thank you, Jennifer!) Here's my favorite. It's from my agency sister Trish Doller, WHO TOTALLY JUST SOLD HER BOOK, BY THE WAY:

"One winter day, I let this particular dog—Sonic was his name—outside to do his business. But Sonic decided he wanted to go wandering, instead. I was in my pajamas so I slid my feet into my husband's big clunky work boots, threw on a coat, and went after him. He had a good lead, but there was lots of snow on the ground so I could follow his footprints. Shivering in my thin pajamas and unlaced boots with no socks, I followed his trail all the way around the block—and found him sitting on the back porch steps, waiting to be let back in.

There might be some writing advice in that story, too. Not necessarily for you, but maybe. Or me. Or anyone: Sometimes it's easier to let the idea come to you than to chase it all the way around the block? Hehe!"

Gah! How have I never heard of Charlie before? This kid is a-freaking-dorable! It's funny you mentioned the accent one because that's the first one I watched after the superb music video. Fav. Ben Folds song of the moment? "Black Glasses" by Angela Aki feat. Ben Folds. Crazy good.

AH! Major Doctor Who nerd here! Asking me to pick a favourite episode is torture! But I would probably say the Agatha Christie episode in Season 4! Just because it's pretty awesome combining cluedo, books and a freakin' huge alien wasp.

If I had a picture of me in the Tardis with Neil Gaman, it would pretty much be pinned to my chest for all time.

"Ben Folds, is of course, Ben Folds." I have been to a number of concerts in my day but Ben Folds will always stand out in my mind. I was blown away how just a guy with a piano could rock so hard that you could feel it in your toes. I can never pick favorites but Kate has the most plays on my ipod. I have never read About A Boy but it is my favorite movie based on his books.Thank you for RT'ing the video I did not know Charlie and now I am in love with his videos, not him since that would just be creepy.

I blame Neil Gaiman for my fear of birds. After reading Anansi Boys I have had an anusual number of birds fly into my windows & car - they are out to get me, I swear. Also Neil got the idea for Stardust while in Arizona so Stardust & I were both birthed in AZ.

Thanks for posting this--that song got stuck in my head and amused me ALL WEEK.

And I'm not annoyed.

I was sorry to hear about Maggie. A friend of mine also recently lost an old dog.

Funny dog story: I love walking by a certain house in my parents' neighborhood because of the dog that plays in the backyard. He makes a lot of fuss when I walk by, and is so focused on watching me and barking that he doesn't notice the end of his backyard. He always smacks into the fence and keeps barking. He's a very vigilant dog.

Hi, there! I'm Steph, and I wrote ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS, LOLA AND THE BOY NEXT DOOR, and ISLA AND THE HAPPILY EVER AFTER. I also edited the romantic holiday anthology MY TRUE LOVE GAVE TO ME and the upcoming SUMMER DAYS & SUMMER NIGHTS.